Toughened glass maker Corning has unveiled its next-gen Gorilla Glass 5 which the company said offers better survivability from drops of 5.2 feet.
Corning further stated its Gorilla Glass 5 offers four times better protection than similar offerings from other companies. To explain just how durable its latest chemically enhanced glass is, Corning said Gorilla Glass 5 can survive face down drops from 5.2 feet onto rough or hardened surfaces 80 percent of the time.
The real world implications might still vary considering that the tests were carried out with glasses that are 0.6mm thick. With companies now opting for glasses just 0.4mm thin in their quest for ever slimming devices, it will be interesting to see how these fare in similar drop tests.
Nonetheless, the above results still make for an improvement of 2-feet over its predecessor Gorilla Glass 4 introduced 2 years ago and is rated to survive drops from 3.2-feet.
Corning’s Gorilla glasses are almost the default display in the majority of the smartphones or other similar devices currently available. The company also justified the usage of its strengthened glasses claiming nearly 85 percent of smartphone users have dropped their devices at least one in a year, with about two-third of those happening from the waist or even shoulder height.
Corning also stated about 55 percent of times users have dropped their smartphones three times or more. No wonder Gorilla Glasses have been in use in over 4.5 billion devices worldwide and have been adopted by more than 40 of the biggest brands in the industry.
However as Corning’s vice president and general manager John Bayne said, the survivability of the glass also depends on the way it is eventually fitted onto the device. Explained as the proudness of the glass, it defines how high the glass is fitted onto the device and is inversely proportional to its survivability.
What this means is that the higher is the proudness of the glass, lesser are its chances of surviving a fall. This also underlines the importance of hardware design to ensure the durability of the glass. Gorilla Glass 5 meanwhile is already available to OEMs and should be seen reaching consumer end by the end of the year.
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